It is a [disputed] question, whether the circulation of paper, rather than of specie [gold and silver coin], is a good or an evil I believe it to be one of those cases where mercantile clamor will bear down reason, until it is corrected by ruin.
Interpretation
Jefferson expresses skepticism about whether paper currency is beneficial or harmful, suggesting that public opinion often overrides rational judgment until disaster strikes.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson reflects on the contentious nature of paper currency versus gold and silver coin, arguing that the debate often leans towards public opinion and clamor rather than sound reasoning. He warns that this unchecked enthusiasm for paper money could lead to a financial collapse, implying that caution and a rational approach should govern economic matters instead of succumbing to popular sentiment.
In practice
In a discussion about the impacts of inflation and economic policy.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
We must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
There's no reason to think that_x000D_ markets always drive people to_x000D_ what's good for them.
A just wage for the worker is the ultimate test of whether any economic system is functioning justly.
What an extraordinary episode in the economic progress of man that age was which came to an end in August, 1914!
Although we work through financial markets, our goal is to help Main Street, not Wall Street.
Credit markets were originally created to serve human needs; to provide businesses and individuals with capital to start or expand businesses or fulfill other financial needs.
If the job of capitalism is to create wealth for those who put up the capital, no fund group comes close to Vanguard's success in serving its owners. So we're probably as far away from communism as is realistically possible.
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